<p>Well, PA Mom, I can’t promise that Seattle will provide you as good a weather in April as I am hoping for in Columbia - but if you get lucky I can promise you that between the Olympics to the West and the Cascades to the East, with the Puget Sound in-between, it tops anything Columbia can offer for eye candy. If the weather is real good you can see Mount Rainier, and Mount Baker - we live about 26 miles from Rainier as the crow flies with a great view.</p>
<p>My wife never liked the humidity of the summers in SC - but promised once the kids were out of HS we could open up a possible move for discussion. So you can imagine her feelings on the USC deal - for her USC will have to beat UW hands down. She has been real cool about the USC acceptance letter - but is almost meeting the mailman at the box everyday now. For me having our daughter go to USC would serve as our trial period to make a decision to move - maybe even to the Ashville, NC area. But even I have to say the summers up here hiking and eating Copper River Salmon may have already added more years to my lifespan than summers in SC eating BBQ (Shealy’s; Smokey Valley; Dukes - even Maurices Piggy Park) and fried catfish (I do love it so).</p>
<p>Have a good trip - if you are visiting UW you can tell me how it ranks with Carolina. The last ime I was on the Carolina Campus was the late 70s, and my friends have told me I would be amazed at the changes, so I am looking forward to the visit in April. But the UW campus is no slouch in the atmosphere factor as well. I would have to say all the boats coming up for a game at Husky Stadium is a lot different than what you see at Williams-Brice, but I also have to admit Southern Football has more passion inside the stadium than what you normally get out here on the West Coast.</p>